Nakaz

thumb|275px|The title page of the Nakaz thumb|French translation of the Instructions, 1769

Nakaz, or Instruction, of Catherine the Great (, transliteration: Nakaz Jekateriny II Komissiji o sostavleniji projekta novogo Uloženija), was a statement of legal principles written by Catherine II of Russia, and permeated with the ideas of the French Enlightenment. It was compiled as a guide for the All-Russian Legislative Commission convened in 1767 for the purpose of replacing the mid-17th-century Muscovite code of laws with a modern law code. Catherine believed that to strengthen law and institutions was above all else to strengthen the monarchy.